Her Favorite Color is Grey
by AxLax420
Summary: It's senior year, and Spencer Hastings gets a new neighbor, whom she ends up falling for. But will his past catch up with him? And will his reasons for coming to Rosewood find him there? Spencer X OC. M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Spencer Hastings turned onto her street, sighing out of exhaustion from her numerous and strenuous extra-curricular activities, silently thanking the universe that it was Friday.

As she pulled into her driveway she noticed that the house next door, not the DiLaurentis residence obviously, had a SOLD sign, where a for sale sign had been previously.

Putting her car in park she vaguely wondered about the nature of her new neighbors, and whether or not they might have any kids around her age, as she and the other girls had been growing sort of distant with everything going on in their personal lives.

As she walked up the stairs and entered her bedroom, she had a perfect view through her window of the newly sold house next door, and it's circular driveway curving away from the front of the house. She watched as a silver 4Runner pulled to a stop in the middle of the driveway. She guessed that it must be a teenager's car, as there was a sticker on the lower left hand side of the hatchback window, with an insignia from a school she hadn't seen before, as well as an out of state license plate, though from her vantage point she couldn't exactly make out either of the things very well.

Spencer advanced towards her window as a young man stepped out of the driver's seat and onto the pavement. She was surprised at his stature, knowing even from a distance that she was taller than him. But also from said distance, she could tell he was very handsome as well.

She continued to watch as the young man opened the hatchback of his SUV, and began pulling out his belongings.

Spencer thought the handsome new blood in rosewood looked like he could use a hand with his things, and she ventured out to help.

She walked across her perfectly manicured lawn, through her hedges, and onto his lawn. As she neared his SUV, he turned slightly, sensing her presence.

His eyebrows shot upwards slightly when she locked eyes with him, as if to inquire the reason for her presence. At this distance, he was better looking than she had thought, shorter too, but she held his gaze, noticing his eye color: bright green, and around the pupil the color of the interior of a forest at dusk.

"Spencer Hastings." she offered, deciding the young man wasn't going to speak first. "I live next door, I saw you pull up and I thought you might like some help with your things." she offered him a smile.

He studied her with a bored unchanging expression as to give nothing away, or so he hoped, because he actually found this Spencer girl very attractive. He studied the way her long brown curls framed her unique facial structure, prominent cheekbones, bright brown eyes, and he let his eyes linger probably too long on her lips, which were a frosty shade of pale pink.

"Walter." he offered after a moment, "Walter Grey."

She noticed as he spoke he had a small gap between his teeth. An imperfection she thought suited Walter very well.

"And a hand would be much appreciated, if you're offering." he said, giving her a small smile.

He went back to taking things out of his car, and she studied Walter's appearance from her new vantage point for the first time. She was still a little surprised at how short he was, as he couldn't be taller than 5'4. She also noticed his hair color, somewhere between blonde and brown, the angular structure of his face, strong jaw line and high cheekbones, which she also noticed was littered with flecks of stubble the color of his eyebrows here and there, which were darker than his hair. She took in the shape of his perfectly straight, pointed nose, and his thin pale pink lips. Going on to notice that though he was very short, and not terribly muscular, from what she could see he had an athlete's body, and muscle tone, though it was rather hard to judge given his attire. He looked straight out of a private school, pleated khaki's tucked in blue dress shirt, brown leather belt, and brown lace up dress shoes, finishing with a bright red tie, which she noticed for the first time had an embroidered pattern on it: blue crossed lacrosse sticks.

In the mere moments it took her to assess his appearance, she had already subconsciously decided she liked him. He turned to face her, a small smile on his face. Noticing this, she moved to begin helping him unload his SUV.

When they had moved everything into they foyer of the large house, which was mostly just his clothes and shoes, and a couple bags with sports gear in them, as well as papers and files, Spencer decided that she would like to know him better.

"So you play lacrosse." She half asked half stated, eyeing the tie he was wearing.

"Yeah, I do." Said Walter. "I play the midfield. It's sort of where all the action goes down, I shoot and assist." He explained smiling wider with each word. "It's probably the best fun I've ever had. I recently got offered a scholarship to Cornell to play for them, not quite sure if I'll make the grades though." He admitted.

She liked the enthusiasm he showed about doing what he loved, it reminded her of her own, driven, overly-motivated self. The only difference was, most things she did had benefit, whether it be to earn her parent's love and attention, or so she would look like gold on any college application, and lacrosse was well, pure sport.

"Cornell?" she asked, a little surprised. "That's the Ivy League, I think you should at least give that a shot." She could hear

"Well before I go applying to colleges and acting on this offer, I have to get on a team. It's senior year, it's probably the most important year for being scouted, if you want to play a sport in college." He explained to Spencer.

She loved to play field hockey but had never thought about it after high school. It was more an application filler for her than a passion, also a way to vent her Hastings competitiveness, and with everything she was hoping to undertake in college, she doubted she would have time to play at a college level, especially given how competitive she was. It would probably consume her life.

"Are you going to attend Rosewood? Or a private school?" she asked him.

"Rosewood." He said. "It'll actually be my first time going to public school in eleven years." He kept talking as he walked farther into his new house. "Sorry about the furniture situation, the movers were supposed to be moving my things in right about now I believe." Said Walter, slight irritation creeping into his voice.

"Don't worry about it." She said, not having really noticed the 'furniture situation' as she was fixated on Walter. The way he looked, the way he dressed, his mannerisms. He was handsome. Sexy if she wanted to be honest with herself. And she found the height difference appealing to say the least. She liked trying new things.

"If you would like, we could go next door, to my house." Spencer offered. "Do you like coffee?" she asked him as he turned away from the large open glass window in his sitting room.

"Couldn't live without it." He replied, flashing her his gap-toothed smirk. "Lead the way." He said, as he advanced toward her.

She turned when he reached her so that they could walk in sync. And because of this she couldn't help noticing the height difference. The top of his head only just reached her jaw.

As they walked out the door and past his SUV, she turned slightly, taking in the out of state license plate. North Carolina. She was betting he'd really like to go to UNC. As little as she knew about lacrosse, she knew all the schools on the east coast that were big on the sport. She'd looked at some herself, but was really vying for UPenn, since she had wanted to attend the establishment ever since she could remember caring about college, which for Spencer Hastings, was as long as she could remember. Along with the license plate, the sticker on his hatchback window caught her eye. It was crimson and royal blue, matching his attire, a college style U with crossing lacrosse sticks behind it. She supposed those must be his school colors, or, old school colors, as he was technically a Shark now.

She stopped at the edge of his driveway, but he didn't seem to notice right away and kept his pace. Before he could get very far she grabbed his upper arm, right above where his elbow was bent slightly as he had his hands in his pockets. She felt his muscles tense at the contact, and caught herself wondering just how defined those muscles were under that dress shirt of his. He locked eyes with her, a slightly amused expression on his face, as he saw her cheeks flush a slight pink color, before she regained that Hastings composure, pushing thoughts of Walter without a shirt to the back of her subconscious.

She pointed to his sticker, "Is that your old private school?" she inquired as they fell back into step towards the Hastings' house.

"Yeah, Asheville University School." Said Walter, a slight cringe overcoming his handsome features. "All male. I went there for eleven years."

"All male? So it'll be a nice change for you to have girls in your classes and sharing your sports fields, won't it?" she asked, smiling at him.

"I just hope it won't be a distraction, this is kind of an important year for me, athletically and academically." He replied.

They reached the Hastings' back door and Spencer opened it, walking inside and closing it after Walter.

"You've a lovely home Spencer." He said, taking a quick look around before giving her another grin, but not showing off the gap in his teeth, that she found herself liking more and more every time she saw it. She wondered how he felt about it himself, and why he'd never gotten it corrected. Maybe he liked it Spencer decided, since after all so did she.

"Thank you, Walter." She returned the smile. As Spencer moved to prepare coffee for the two of them, Walter seated himself at the island in her kitchen.

"So what made your parents decide to let you go to public school here in Rosewood?" she inquired.

"Well…" He trailed off. "They don't exactly…know about it." He finished.

She turned to look at him, obviously confused, he could see it in her face, and he could also see, that for Spencer Hastings, being confused was a totally new experience.

And she thought for a minute. Where were Walter's parents? What if she had brought up an unwanted subject, as he did seem a little reluctant to discuss the issue.

"They didn't move here with me." Walter finally admitted, as he averted his eyes to the marble countertop. "I live next door, alone, by myself…bachelor pad." He finished, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, eyes still directed to the countertop. "They're back in Asheville. North Carolina, that's where I'm from."

He looked up at her, noticing now that she had moved towards him and was leaning against the other side of the island, directly across from him. She didn't press him further with her words, and he could see that she wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about it, but her eyes pressed him for more questions, because who was Spencer kidding? She wanted to know everything about Walter.

Deciding she wouldn't press him, and deciding he liked her self control, since he could tell she wanted to know more, he went on, "They're busy with work, and they rarely ever had much time for me before, so it's not exactly a big adjustment. I'm used to being alone." He finished, his tone even, not showing any emotion, if he felt about it one way or another.

And Spencer could empathize, and she told him so. "My parents are the same, I'm used to being by myself as well."

But she wanted to know more. Why had he even felt the need to leave North Carolina, and his parents, and possibly even a girlfriend? As the thought crossed her mind she felt a twinge of jealousy, but wouldn't admit it to herself. She wasn't used to not being in control. And Walter…well, Walter made her unable to control how she felt, and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

"If you don't mind me asking," she began, "Would you tell me why you left Asheville in the first place?" She studied his face intently, and his body language, to see if she could get any information at all from that.

"Well, as to why I left, I needed the change of scenery. There were things there that I just couldn't get away from." He trailed off at that not meeting her gaze.

And she knew the feeling, of not being able to escape your past, and wanting to keep your secrets, so she didn't press him any further, though Spencer knew this wasn't the whole story.

"And as to why Rosewood? It was random. I liked the house. And it's far, far away from _her_." He said his tone growing bitter at the last word, his expression changing at light speed from pain to anger, then to defeat. Then to realization, as he realized he'd said too much.

Spencer was taken aback. So he'd had a girlfriend. But didn't anymore. And she had obviously wronged him. But she could see that he didn't want to discuss this girl. And neither did she. So she didn't press him for information, but set coffee in front of him, causing him to look up at her. She was grinning half way, and she looked sorry, as though she had made him spill the bit of information that he was trying so desperately to keep locked in his subconscious.

"Do you take anything with yours?" Spencer asked. "I like mine black. Everyone hates my coffee. My friends say I bleed caffeine." She joked offering him a tentative smile.

He returned the smile, and thought to himself before replying, that all thoughts of _her_, had vanished the moment he had met Spencer Hastings. He didn't know exactly what it meant, but it felt nice, and it made Walter appreciate her company on a different level than he had been before.

They finished their coffee, forgetting the mention of the source of Walter's discomfort, and they made friendly, idle conversation, just getting to know one another. They talked about lacrosse, what it was like to go to an all male school, what it was like to go to a co-ed public school, field hockey, which to her delight Walter was very interested in, cars, favorite colors, favorite foods, television shows. Anything you would talk about with someone you didn't know anything about.

"So, you start at Rosewood on Monday?" she asked as she followed Walter to the door. The movers had arrived in his absence and he wanted to ensure the safety of his belongings.

"Yes, I do." He smiled at her as she stood across the threshold, inside her house, and he stood opposite her. "I hope I see you at school, it's not like I know anyone else in Rosewood." He admitted.

She could see that he had only just thought of this himself, and a bit of nervousness marred his handsome features.

"Tell you what," she said holding out her right hand. "Give me your phone, I'll put my number in and you can text me Monday morning." She smiled.

He smiled back, showing the gap between his teeth this time, looking very appreciative, and giving Spencer a slight flutter in her stomach. He unlocked and handed over his phone so she could enter her number.

"Thank you, Spencer." Said Walter.

She could hear the smile in his voice, though she was looking at his phone to add her contact information.

"No problem, Walter." She said, smiling at him when she returned his phone. "Even if we don't have any classes together, we'll still see each other around. And you're welcome to sit with my friends and I at lunch, if you aren't scared of a table full of girls." She said playfully, poking fun at the fact that he'd only ever went to an all male private school.

"I'd like that." He smiled a half smile. "But for now, I should get back to my place, and get things settled." He didn't really want to leave. He enjoyed Spencer's company more than he wanted to admit to himself. But moving in did have to be done.

"Good night, Walter." Spencer said softly. Loving the way his name rolled off her tongue just a little bit more every time she got to say it. She offered him a smile, open and honest, showing more emotion than she should have for someone she met only hours ago.

But he returned her smile, with the same intentions, to let her know he enjoyed spending time with her, and that he would love her company any hour of any day.

"Good night, Spencer." The left side of his mouth twitched as if he wanted to smile as he said her name. And she noticed it. She liked the way her name sounded when Walter said it. And he wondered if she made him like his own name too when she said it. Maybe she was being too hopeful. He did still seem to be hurting over the mystery ex-girlfriend. A stronger wave of jealousy overcame her, and left a bitter taste in her mouth as Walter turned away and she shut the door.

And she knew she was falling for the new kid, the guy next door. She was falling for Walter Grey.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Walter woke up early the next morning, though not voluntarily. He rolled out of bed, and looked around his bare room. He had moved everything he took with him into his house, he just had yet to arrange everything the way he wanted it. He wondered if Spencer was busy. He thought to himself that he might ask for her help, remembering she mentioned turning the Hastings' barn into a loft, that she never got around to moving into, on account of her very bitchy sounding older sister.

He wanted to do his own room himself. He got up without dressing and went into the hallways to carry boxes into his room. He shelved his books, hung up his posters, featuring various Major League Lacrosse players from his favorite team, the Boston Cannons, and his favorite bands, and he hung up his lacrosse state champions flag from his sophomore year over his bed. He set up the lamp on his desk, and put his art supplies in various drawers, depending on the nature of each tool, and his portfolio in a bottom drawer that was slightly larger with a lock. He hung up all his clothes in his closet, and set all his shoes in the floor of the large space. He placed a small UNC clad tub next to his bookshelf, and stored three of his lacrosse sticks in it, including the one he played with now. The final touch was his alarm clock on his nightstand. He never used it, but he did like to know the time.

When he finished his room he showered, and decided to give Spencer a call. Would she be up? He wondered. He hoped he wasn't being too much of a bother, but Spencer answered on the second ring, with a seemingly alert and awake and questioning "Hello?"

It occurred to him that he never stored his number in her phone, only vice versa, and that his number was out of Rosewood's area code.

"Spencer? It's Walter, did I wake you?" he asked, deducting that he hadn't, though he felt it polite to ask anyway.

"Walter! Hi." She said, her voice immediately brightening. "No, I was already awake, I'm just finishing some homework." She replied sounding slightly preoccupied.

"In any hour of the A.M.? Wow, you're motivated." He said, impressed with her drive.

"I don't like to leave things undone, procrastination isn't really in the vocabulary of a Hastings."

Walter could hear the smile in her voice. She was busy, but he decided to ask anyway, "When you're finished, were you doing anything today?"

"I don't have any plans yet, would you like to change that?" Spencer asked playfully.

"Don't get too excited, I need to place my furniture. The only room I've done is mine, and I have a whole house ahead of me. I can do all the moving, I was just really hoping you could tell me what looks good, I remember you talking about remodeling the barn. Think you could lend me that flare for design today? He asked.

"I would honestly love to." Spencer said happily. "I'll be over in an hour or so, is that alright?"

"Yeah that's perfect, I'll try and get a few things done before you get here." He said. "See you shortly Spencer."

"See you, Walter." She replied and hung up the phone, turning back to her schoolwork, which, compared to spending the day with Walter Grey, seemed a lot more bleak and uninteresting than it had before he'd called. But she stayed and finished it.

Meanwhile, Walter, upstairs in his room turned on his iPod and docked it in his iHome. He selected the songs he wanted to hear by the artist, not wanting blink-182 as they were his absolute favorite and he'd over played them on the drive to Rosewood. He chose A Day To Remember instead, and made sure the volume was comfortable before going over to his nightstand and retrieving the lanyard from his drawer that held all of his keys.

He wondered how Spencer would react if she knew about his...hobby. He walked over to his desk, and on the opposite side of the locked drawer where his portfolio was safely stored, was another drawer with a lock. He unlocked it, and pulled out a vacuum sealed bag of marijuana. Light green, with reddish orange hairs. He pulled out a bud of the sticky plant and admired it, letting the sweet and sour aroma fill his nostrils before pulling out a medium sized chrome cylinder from the drawer, and taking off the top, then grinding up the herb. He used to appreciate breaking it down by hand, but when you do it so many times it does lose its appeal.

He decided against his neon green and royal blue glass bong, not really wanting to make the trip to fill it with water, and deciding on one of his pipes. It was forest green and was blown in a Sherlock style, and had a fairly deep bowl. He packed it and pulled a lighter out of a small drawstring bag where he kept many spares, and lit up.

Upon exhaling the smoke, he felt the effects of the bud, clearing his head and making things lucid and vivid. The way he liked them. He liked things a lot better when he was high, and so he smoked a few bowls to himself, until he was what his friend Ian liked to say, 'stoned to the bone'.

When he finished, he placed everything back in the drawer and pulled out a small, clear plastic bottle of eye drops. He usually never bothered, but he wasn't sure how Spencer felt about marijuana, though he supposed she might find the chemistry of it interesting if nothing else, given what he'd assessed of her personality. He decided to use this to try and get her to smoke some with him, but he wouldn't pressure her. Just make idle conversation on the subject and offer her some.

After walking to the bathroom and making sure his eyes were clear, he went back into his room, and changed the music. Angels & Airwaves. They weren't blink or anything, but he still thought they were good for the alternative genre.

He heard blink-182 though. He was pretty stoned so it didn't register at first, but it was Feeling This. His ringtone. And it was Spencer. He answered and immediately moved from his position on the bed to turn down the music.

"Hey, Spencer." He said happily.

"Hey, I'm at your front door, I rang the doorbell, but I decided to just call, in case you were showering or something." Said Spencer.

"I'm so sorry, I was playing music. Pretty inconsiderate of me, but I'll be right down." He said as he hung up the phone.

He raced down the stairs and opened the door to find a beaming Spencer, wearing a blue button down with a red high waisted skirt, and brown lace up boots that went mid-calf, reminding him of the only style of socks he liked to wear. He liked the way she had done her hair today especially, a long braid over just one of her shoulders. Walter had a thing for braids. He must have been admiring her appearance for a moment too long as she didn't wait any longer for him to step aside, and stepped over the threshold. As she did he caught her scent. He had no clue what it could be, but it smelled nice. It wasn't too heavy but not too light, it had an earthy touch to it as well. Was it her perfume? Maybe she just naturally smelled that nice?

He followed her into his living room, cluttered full of furniture that hadn't found its place and boxes upon boxes. She turned to face him slightly faster than expected and he was a little taken aback.

"Do you like the colors?" Spencer asked him shyly, smiling at him, causing her cheeks to display their dimples, which Walter's eyes strayed to.

He had noticed the crimson and royal blue, but it hadn't occurred to him that she had purposely worn his old school colors, not to mention his two favorites when together.

"I noticed, but I didn't think you dressed in those colors on purpose. Despite being my old school colors, crimson and blue are my favorite color combination." He smiled at her. "And I really like your braid. I think it's intricate and very classy."

She blushed slightly at the complement Walter had offered, and he gave her a half smile half smirk, showing off just a little bit of that gap between his teeth. She thought he looked good, though very under-dressed from the attire she'd met him in. His dirty blonde hair fell just perfectly above his eyebrows, slightly covering them, and curling out in a series of flips at the ends, which Spencer found absolutely adorable. He wore a royal blue lacrosse pennie with a crimson college-font U in the middle and white lacrosse sticks crossed behind it. It matched the sticker on his hatchback. She liked it because it showed his toned arms, which were much more muscular than she had originally thought, and some of his chest. She liked his shorts too, simple, khaki chinos, and his mid-calf royal blue socks, with a red under armour symbol, matching the one above the crimson U on his pennie.

"You look good today Walter. A couple years younger too." She laughed at that when he scowled.

"So ties and khakis add a few years?" he asked her.

"Yes, but not any inches." She laughed a little harder as his scowl deepened.

"It's not very funny, you obviously don't get what it's like to be short, or a guy, and then both at the same time." He said as his features relaxed. "But it doesn't bother me, you can make all the fun you want to. It won't make me any shorter, or any taller for that matter." He finished offering a smile, because he really didn't mind. And even if he did, he didn't think he could hold it against Spencer, not with the growing attraction to her looks, style, and personality, which he was having a hard time accepting the fact that this was happening, as he'd only just met her.

But even so, her presence, and just being in Rosewood in general was already doing wonders for his emotional health. Though he really did miss his best friends, Jake Huntington and Ian Duff. He honestly was thinking about inviting them to Rosewood, provided they keep his location a secret from _her_.

"Have you eaten?" Walter asked, feeling his own appetite set in, fueled by the marijuana.

"Yes, but you go ahead while I start thinking about what your house should look like." She smiled at him and advanced farther into his sitting room, which was really the only room that he planned on furnishing. The kitchen was organized. And he didn't know what he would do with the guest room or the study, he had a bedroom of his own after all.

He made pizza rolls, and opened a can of Monster, his drink of choice for energy, even over coffee.

"Want one?" he asked turning towards Spencer holding up the green and black can.

"No thank you." She said politely, but he could tell she disapproved of the choice.

"You have something against energy drinks? He asked her, amused.

"No I just prefer coffee, and I think those things are pretty unhealthy anyway. I don't care to have a sugar crash." She stated matter-of-factly.

"Could I make you some then? He asked. "Coffee."

"I'd like that, black please." She said turning away from him again to inspect the area with which she was working.

As she focused on her task at hand, Walter wasn't doing so well himself. He opened the freezer to take out coffee beans to grind for Spencer. He thought of asking which flavor, but then decided to surprise her. French Vanilla seemed appropriate, it was his favorite, maybe she liked it as well.

As Spencer walked around his living room, brow furrowed slightly with thought, he watched her as he ground coffee beans, thanking that she didn't turn to face him at the noise of the grinder, as he was staring shamelessly, taking in everything about her appearance, from her height, which he liked, to her slender frame, long legs, and toned ass. And back up to that braid. It suited her so well. So much so that he wished they knew each other well enough for him to give it a tug. He supposed that she wouldn't mind, though the gesture was childish, and once the thought was in his head he couldn't stop his stealthy advance towards Spencer, taking her by surprise as he gave her braid a gentle tug, but at the same time with enough force to get Spencer's attention.

And apparently arouse her as well. She turned to face him, a different look in her eyes, whereas before she'd been focused and intent on rearranging his living space, and now her gaze was unfocused and her eyes clouded slightly.

"What was that for?" she asked, her voice slightly lower than usual.

"Just an impulse." His smirk widened. "I didn't share this with you, or with anyone else ever, for that matter, but I really like braids. I guess you could say I have a thing for them." He finished slightly trailing off, wondering if he should tell her what else he had a thing for. And wondering if she would be shocked at all to find out it was none other than herself.

She flushed a little more at his confession, and tugged on her braid slightly while they held each other's gaze. She liked the smirk on Walter's face, like he knew what he was doing to her. In fact Spencer was sure he knew exactly what he was doing. And she wasn't about to protest. She liked Walter, he had manners, class, wit, and she didn't even want to go into looks. He was in her opinion the best looking guy in Rosewood, and she couldn't believe her luck that he moved in next door to her, and that she had gotten to him first.

She decided to pick up where he left off by asking, "What else do you have a thing for?" as though she'd read his mind.

He blushed at this, and as he was pale in complexion, of course she noticed. It was her turn to smirk at him. She liked knowing she could make him nervous too.

"Well, I know we've known each other for little more than twenty four hours, so this might be a little dangerous to admit, but I have a thing for you, Spencer." The flush receded from his handsome features, and there wasn't anything in his voice she could discern other than confidence, which she liked very much.

"I feel the same way even though it does seem a little bit crazy." She admitted, not sure if she could refrain from kissing Walter much longer, even though she wanted him to kiss her first.

"Well, we have another day after this before I start school, so would you want to do something tomorrow? As in, go on a date? With me?" he couldn't believe he was doing this. Twenty four hours. But he was realizing more and more every second they spent together, that when it came to Spencer Hastings, rationality wasn't foremost in his mind. Spencer Hastings was foremost in his mind, and he knew he wanted her, and he knew he wanted to be with her, at the way she smiled before replying to his question.

"I'd love to." She returned. "But you know," she said turning away from him, "We should finish this room. I'd like to see yours." She smiled coyly at him throwing him a heavy lidded dark look through her lashes, over her shoulder.

His jaw dropped slightly. Spencer Hastings wasn't shy. She wasn't nerdy. She wasn't anal. Not in Walter's opinion. She was what he wanted, what he needed. And as soon as she looked at him like that, he knew Spencer was in charge, as she was so used to being. He didn't find it emasculating though, it just increased his desire to touch her, and kiss her, and let himself be dragged up to his bedroom by Spencer, and his hormones. But he knew that rushing things was never a good idea. But he'd kiss her today. He'd kiss her goodbye when she left, if nothing else. He allowed himself a thought that could dangerously turn into a fantasy: If she left.

Spencer however, began instructing him on the placement of his television, and furniture, making the room cozier than he could ever have done himself. When he finished moving everything into place he excused himself to the foyer, returning with a box. He opened it and took out Xbox controllers, followed by the console itself, and began hooking it up to his television, he finished shortly and returned with games to stack next to the console.

Spencer sat on his couch and watched him. She liked the way he did everything he did. She found everything he did graceful and attractive. She found herself smiling at the way his tongue stuck out between his teeth when he focused, the way his brow furrowed, and he huffed frustrated sighs through his nose, while connecting all the wires to the Xbox then in turn to the television.

When he finished he turned to Spencer, and asked shyly, and a little quieter than he normally talked, "Would you still like to see my bedroom?"

He stood up and offered her his hand, not waiting for her reply, simply because he knew the answer. She smiled and stepped gracefully from the couch to the floor, keeping her hand in his hand and allowing him to lead her up the stairs to his room, getting butterflies in her stomach when he looked back at her and flashed her his gap-toothed smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Walter pushed open the door to his room, which was already slightly ajar. He moved to sit at his desk, his hand still intertwined with Spencer's. He took a seat and said, "Have a look around, touch anything you like." He smiled.

Spencer liked Walter's room. Even though it WAS his room, it just felt like him. He had posters of all the things she knew he liked, and some that she didn't know he liked. "You like A Day To Remember?" asked Spencer, noticing the large banner hanging over his desk which was a giant rendition of the Homesick album cover.

"Yeah, they're really high ranked on my list of favorites, I'm pretty sure I'm a fan of ninety percent of their discography." He said smiling, before asking, "Do you like them?" realizing that for all he knew about Spencer so far her music taste was a mystery.

"Actually I like them quite a bit, but my parent's don't. They only tolerate classical music, when they're home of course, I still listen to my music most of the time when they're gone." She finished.

Looking closer at the banner of the album cover, she saw that it wasn't completely a replica. In fact it wasn't even printed. It was drawn and painted with watercolor, she thought it must have been quite expensive, and like the fact that he was so into one of her favorite bands. Not a lot of people would guess Spencer Hastings cared for alternative genres of music.

Moving closer and sitting on his desk close to him, she inquired, "Who did the artwork for this? I couldn't tell at first, but it's not printed. It's painted." She said.

Walter was wondering how long he could avoid this conversation, but he supposed that's what he got for displaying his work so blatantly in his room, where obviously he would have brought Spencer to eventually.

"Do you like it?" he asked tentatively. "I did it. The pencil and the water color and all." Said Walter, looking up at his work but not really admiring it. He knew he was good, but he wasn't the best, and it sort of bothered him. He didn't like to display artwork, or really for many people to know he was very artistically inclined. He preferred that people thought he was just a weed smoking lacrosse player, with average grades and average talents.

Spencer's eyes widened. She was shocked that Walter had left this giant piece of information out when telling her about himself. Walter could feel Spencer studying him, and he locked eyes with her.

"You never told me you could..." she trailed off, "Do things like that." She said her voice showing signs of her being more than slightly impressed.

"It's not something I really tend to share about myself." Said Walter, looking away now, even though that was impossibly hard. Even under her scrutiny, he found her beautiful. He wished he could explain his apprehension to Spencer about it, but he wasn't really sure she would understand, and he wasn't really sure he understood himself. "I'd rather people think I'm your regular lax bro, than some bohemian artist." He stated, even though he definitely was. Asheville was just that type of place. The arts flourished. Not to mention his mother ran an art studio, he supposed he got his talent from her, as he'd never really seen his father display any type of artistic talent.

"But Walter, you're amazing." Said Spencer, still sounding impressed with his skill that she had discovered. "I know you have more, could I see? Please?" she asked, the slightest hint of desperation in her voice.

She wanted to see all of his work. He was full of surprises. She vaguely wondered what else Walter liked to keep to himself.

He sighed. This is definitely what he wanted to avoid. But he knew Spencer was so different from _her. _In the short time he'd known Spencer, she had made him forget completely about his ex-girlfriend, except for times like this when it was pretty much impossible.

His ex hadn't really appreciated his work. He had always given her sketches, beautiful, and time consuming. She'd ripped them up when they fought. Or just not shown much interest at all, and honestly, if he admitted it to himself, she was the reason he was so self-conscious of his work. But he also had to admit to himself that he liked Spencer. A lot. And even though he knew it was more dangerous than anything he could do, he trusted her, though he didn't exactly know why. He felt like he could. He felt like she really liked him for him, and that he could really be himself around her.

"Well, if you insist." He agreed quietly, standing up and moving across the room to his nightstand.

She just watched him in silence tinged with admiration as he took out his keys and turned to face her, and make his way back to his desk. She glanced at his lanyard. Royal blue with crimson college font "U"s printed on it. Like a lot of things he owned she came to realize. She decided she'd get him a new one from Rosewood High's bookstore.

She was perplexed as to why he had keys though, but understood when she slid off the desk and moved to Walter's bed to sit, and watched him open one of two bottom drawers on his desk, which had locks.

She liked his bed. She liked even more that he made it after sleeping in it. His comforter was navy on the topside and baby blue on the underside, and she noticed his sheets, red and blue sharks. She smiled to herself at this, she thought it was cute, she hadn't seen a sheet set like it before.

She watched, as Walter pulled out numerous sketchbooks and file folders, surprised at the amount. He must have been doing this for years. She wondered how many of his friends and people he knew outside of Rosewood knew that he was a brilliant artist. She wondered if his parents even knew, as he seemed very private about it.

He gathered up all his work in his arms, and laid it down gently beside Spencer, moving to sit on her other side. She flipped through sketchbooks of characters from television shows, celebrity portraits, and next she came across his drawings of sports, most of them lacrosse players. Then she began to see original work, faces and things she didn't recognize. But she knew Walter had done it by the way the lines and the shading were carefully executed across the page, as every piece of work she had looked at previously had been done with the same skill and dexterity.

He watched her expressions change, and as she looked on through his things she only seemed to become more impressed. When she decided she was finished she looked to her left and caught Walter's gaze, which was studying her, as she had been studying his brilliance.

"You're amazing at this Walter, I have no clue why you would keep something like this to yourself." Said Spencer offering Walter a small smile, showing her dimples again. "My friend Aria draws and paints too, I think you guys should compare work." She said, not really knowing what his reaction would be.

Walter seemed to consider this. He was away from Asheville. Maybe everyone here would love what he could do instead of being indifferent to it. And besides, the fact that Spencer liked his work gave him a lot of confidence about it, so much so that he had almost forgotten why he hated sharing his talent in the first place. Almost.

"I'll think it over," he said meeting her gaze again, "But I'm not sure I'm ready to share my things with anyone else just yet." He looked away and began to gather his sketchbooks and file folders, wanting to return them to his drawer that locked.

Feeling Spencer's eyes studying him, trying to understand this, he told her she wouldn't understand.

"It's complicated." Said Walter. "And it'll take time for me to be open with my work. I don't really want to go into it, but I'm self conscious of it." He finished, moving to his desk to begin restoring his things.

Spencer wanted to know. But he didn't want to go into it, so she didn't press him for information. Hadn't he said he had a thing for her? She figured he would talk to her eventually.

She looked around at the rest of his room, noticing his bookshelf, and getting off the bed to take a closer look at his collection of books and magazines. He seemed like a big reader, but he liked more fiction than she did, as the shelves were littered with fantasy novels, though he did have a lot of books that she liked and had read herself. What was there not to like about Walter?

"Hey, Spencer?" asked Walter. And it was a question. She could hear it in his voice, so she turned to face him, still smiling at the fact that he loved to read.

She walked closer to him. He seemed nervous. "Can I ask you something?" he inquired. "How do you feel about marijuana?"

The question surprised her, as it had not been what she was expecting. Of course she had researched the topic, before the use of course. Yes, Spencer Hastings had smoked marijuana before, with her three best friends a few times, and a few more at parties, she enjoyed it, but never made it a regular occurrence, as she was afraid it might affect her studies.

"I mean, I've smoked before. It's not a regular thing. But I do enjoy the chemistry behind it, it's an interesting plant, I enjoy learning about the different varieties, and growing methods." She said matter-of-factly. "Why, do you smoke weed?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him, thinking to herself that he DID seem the type.

"Well yes, I do, quite often actually." He had visibly relaxed, knowing that she was comfortable with the idea of his hobby. "I was wondering if it was something you might like to do with me sometime?" he asked, showing slight nervousness again in his handsome features.

She considered this. She would like to smoke with Walter. She enjoyed the activity, and his company. "I would actually love to, as surprising as that may seem, but it's been awhile since I have." She admitted.

"Well I don't suppose you would mind if I smoked now then? And I don't suppose you'd like to join me, would you?" he asked Spencer, sounding hopeful at the end of his sentence.

She considered it. She liked being high, and she liked Walter. It wasn't as though she lost her wits when she smoked, though she was definitely more giggly.

"Actually, if you're offering, I would like to join you." She smiled at him.

He looked taken aback, the way his eyebrows shot up, before grinning at her widely. "What do you like to smoke out of?" he asked her. "I have anything you could want to smoke out of, even fruit."

"I think I like joints the best, if they're rolled the right way." Said Spencer.

He seemed even more delighted at this. "Joints are my favorite too, I actually have two or three already rolled up. He moved to the other side of his desk, with the other locked drawer. She knew what he kept in there now.

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and she looked to see what kind. Marlboro 27s. She'd never had them, but enjoyed the occasional light cigarette herself. She also wondered how he'd gotten them, he wasn't eighteen, though she supposed he could have a fake I.D.

"You smoke?" she asked him, remembering that he played lacrosse, and wondering how that worked.

"Only in the off season. This is old anyway." He said, as he pulled a lighter out of his drawer before locking it back and moving to stand in front of her. He opened the cigarette package, and the sweet and sour aroma of marijuana hit Spencer's nose. Two or three? Walter had a cigarette box full of joints. Her eyebrows raised in surprise at the amount of marijuana, which led her to wonder, how much more did he have?

He handed her one, and took one for himself. He lit hers first for her, before lighting his own. Spencer inhaled the smoke, and it wasn't too harsh hitting her lungs but she still coughed slightly on the exhale, whereas Walter was smoking his like he did this every day. He probably did she thought.

"This weed tastes nice, does it have a name?" Spencer asked, liking to know if what she was smoking had been christened or not.

He laughed a little at this. "I couldn't tell you, my friend gave me that box of joints on my birthday this year. Every one had a different kind in it so, I'm not really sure what you're smoking on."

She looked surprised again, he thought. He watched her take another hit of her marijuana cigarette. And exhale the smoke. He thought it suited her well to do this, and that she looked very sexy, but then again he did like girls that smoked weed, more than girls that didn't.

He decided he'd try something. "Would you like a shotgun?" he asked Spencer a little shyly, not sure how she would react.

"I actually have no idea what that means in stoner language." She laughed.

"Let me show you." he smiled at her, noticing she looked the slightest bit apprehensive. He took a drag off of his joint, not inhaling the smoke into his lungs. He then closed the short distance between himself and Spencer, as he cupped her jaw line with his hand. She was surprised, pleasantly of course, when Walter pressed his own lips to hers, slightly parted. She recovered quickly and understood the concept of a shotgun.

She slightly parted her own lips and inhaled the smoke out of Walter's mouth. It was practically a kiss, though not quite, as it left Spencer wanting more of Walter. She pulled back to exhale, and he noticed she was slightly flushed. He liked the effect he had on her, and decided to try his luck, thinking he would kiss her, since she was looking at him with what he thought was expectance.

He took another hit off of his own joint and didn't exhale before asking her, "How was that?" giving her a knowing smirk, which Spencer found irresistibly attractive.

How was it? What was she supposed to say? She tasted more than marijuana on her lips, and desperately wanted to kiss Walter full on this time. She could still smell whatever cologne he was wearing, the masculine scent spiking her arousal and her desire to kiss him.

She didn't answer, but she closed the distance between her lips and Walter's, this time in a kiss. Walter wasted absolutely no time kissing Spencer back, his own arousal spiking at how soft her lips were, and how nice she smelled.

He cupped her jaw again, and made to deepen the kiss, running the tip of his tongue along her bottom lip, causing Spencer to meet his tongue with her own as she allowed him to dominate their kiss and explore the inside of her mouth, while she explored his tongue with hers, lacing her fingers in the slightly flipped hair at the base of his neck.

He moved his hands to her waist, bringing them up ever so slightly above it and giving her sides a light squeeze. No one had ever done that to Spencer before, and the touch caused her back to arch slightly, and she felt butterflies in her lower stomach and a rush of heat between her legs and she gently tugged on Walter's hair, and bit his bottom lip softly.

Walter obviously found this very arousing, because he tried to stifle a moan but didn't have the willpower. The noise made Spencer's arousal spike even higher, and she pulled away breaking the kiss which had become less heated. They both knew this was dangerous.

Walter spoke first, flushed and a little breathless. "I haven't done that with anyone in over a year."

This surprised Spencer, as well as feeding her Hastings ego a little bit. It's not like Walter was out of practice though, she thought that was the most electrifying few moments of her life.

When she didn't speak he continued. "I don't want to rush things with you, but I've never been attracted to anyone like this before."

She didn't want to rush into things either, but she also didn't know if she could trust her own body to follow through on her decision to take things slowly with Walter.

"I don't either, but I'm not sure I would be able to control myself, if things just ended up going too far." She told him, thinking to herself that she'd really like them to go farther now, because she was aching between her legs, she could hardly sit still.

"I'm not sure either." Walter admitted to her. "But it won't stop me from enjoying your company, or kissing you."

She smiled at this, reassured at the fact that he wanted the exact same thing that he did. She glanced at his alarm clock. She'd been here since noon, and it was four o'clock already. She didn't want to leave, but she knew she didn't trust herself with Walter right now.

She made up an excuse, explaining that she had promised her sister they would meet for dinner in the city tonight.

He was sorry to see her go, but at the same time, he knew he'd see her tomorrow, and he did have a date to plan out. He wanted things to be perfect.

He walked her out of his house and to the back door of her own, standing slightly on the tips of his toes to kiss her on the lips again before they parted. In Spencer's opinion, the kiss ended too soon, but walking up the stairs to her room, and knowing that she was still every bit as aroused as Walter had made her in his bedroom, that the kiss had in fact ended just in time.

Spencer Hastings didn't know how much longer she could hold out.


End file.
